I guess it's inevitable but still sad that Frank and Patrick have to go at some point. I know he's staying as principle but at 70, how long will that last? I feel like the sport's losing a bit of it's soul when guys like this leave.

Sir Frank will only truly be gone when they have to put him in a wooden box. He's still the team principle of course, just not on the board. At his age he probably needs to step back a bit. I also expect Claire (and possibly others) to maintain the family presence in the team for a good number of years. Team Willy is somewhat unique in modern F1, and I hope it always has something of its founders' (not forgetting Patrick) spirit.

No major improvement in team's fortune courtesy two pay drivers .. Sauber has picked up its form, Force India has always looked fast, while Torro Rosso is showing good promise. Both drivers consistently languishing at the bottom of time-sheets barring one day when they went on super-softs on a three lap run. What about race pace ? How can you hide it for so many days ? Put a Sutil in the car you will suddenly see the car looking like a worthy midfield runner. Now i know people cannot reply will ask counter questions saying, how do you know ? what is your basis ? but the fact of the matter is where is the evidence which says the drivers aren't under-performing ? I mean look at their pace.. The game has moved on and Williams trying to go forward with two sandbags

No major improvement in team's fortune courtesy two pay drivers .. Sauber has picked up its form, Force India has always looked fast, while Torro Rosso is showing good promise. Both drivers consistently languishing at the bottom of time-sheets barring one day when they went on super-softs on a three lap run. What about race pace ? How can you hide it for so many days ? Put a Sutil in the car you will suddenly see the car looking like a worthy midfield runner. Now i know people cannot reply will ask counter questions saying, how do you know ? what is your basis ? but the fact of the matter is where is the evidence which says the drivers aren't under-performing ? I mean look at their pace.. The game has moved on and Williams trying to go forward with two sandbags

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: Today the team concentrated on practicing our pit stops, completing 68 mostly in- and out-laps to get the drivers and pit crew used to the new equipment and procedures. Pastor's morning session was compromised with an engine-related problem which, although easy to rectify, took some time to identify. Bruno's running in the afternoon was trouble free.

Pastor Maldonado: Our focus today was on pitstop practice, which is important to do before we get into a live race situation. Getting a clean, fast pitstop involves a combination of factors from both the team and driver. From my side, I have to position the car correctly in the box, get a good pull away from the stop and make sure I have clean in- and out-laps. We are trying many different things to improve all of these areas.

Bruno Senna: This afternoon was great as we did a lot of practice to understand our pitstop performance as a team. It is very important to practice as you come in at 100kph, the speed you would do on a motorway, and jump into a space just the size of the car. There is a lot of time to be made, and races can be decided by pitstops. I think we’ve really improved our performance today. I’m now looking forward to doing some stops in a race, and to being quick and precise when the pressure is on.

Sir Frank will only truly be gone when they have to put him in a wooden box. He's still the team principle of course, just not on the board. At his age he probably needs to step back a bit. I also expect Claire (and possibly others) to maintain the family presence in the team for a good number of years. Team Willy is somewhat unique in modern F1, and I hope it always has something of its founders' (not forgetting Patrick) spirit.

I actually think that first point is starting to play on Sir Frank's mind now. He is already the longest-living person with his specific injuries ever I believe, and his overall health is not even that of 5-6 years ago. Making sure that his role is more symbolic and in the background will only make it easier when he is gone.

Long live Sir Frank of course! He is one of the all-time greats in F1 team history, and is responsible for some many of my cherished memories as an F1 fan.

I can't remember now. I've followed Williams' twitter since 2010. I don't remember having to follow a new account. When someone changes their account name you still follow them as normal. However when I look back through my following list, Williams is much more recent than Rubens, and I'm sure I followed them at the same time.

Interesting add-ons on the nosecone, look like they have the same thinking behind them as the under-nose snowplough first seen on the FW31 and now carried on by McLaren. Will they be the camera mounts as well?

The good thing of following Williams nowadays, is that you get to avoid most of the drama and bitchfest that seems to be happening in the Macca, Ferrari and Red Bull threads at the moment.

...but then I joined the thread again.

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Following Williams and Force Indias long-runs today suggested that Williams was around eight tenths I would say, off the Force India. If that is true then it is a bit disappointing but we'll have to wait and see.

Following Williams and Force Indias long-runs today suggested that Williams was around eight tenths I would say, off the Force India. If that is true then it is a bit disappointing but we'll have to wait and see.

I haven't analyzed the data, but didn't FI go for shorter stints than Williams? This would affect laptimes.

Furthermore, I'm quite certain that the sim was done with the old FW and the old diffuser. The new FW was tested a bit the previous days and the new floor configuration will debut tomorrow. The new parts could add quite a bit of performance.

As a Williams fan I'm also quite aware that the new parts also could have no effect whatsoever...

Hehe, yes, but a new floor is a significant upgrade, so that could claw back a good handful of tenths. You're right about the stints, Williams three-stopped their race-sim while Force India four-stopped, but I tend to pay more attention to the first stint (provided I'm sure it is intact a race-sim) and the diff was just one lap then, 10 for Force India, 11 for Williams.

But the livery is final doesn't mean that there won't be any new logos on it. It just the color scheme and layout which will stay the same. Williams used to change these things between start of testing and start of the season last few years, so I guess the question and answer were about it.